Recent Posts: Kea Research

Mark Reed-Edwards found the perfect timing, right after ARInsights‘ forum in Boston, to ask me about the misunderstandings and options within analyst relations. In the first of two ‘Confessions of a Marketer‘ podcasts with Mark, I explain the roots of the pay to play myth: that all analysts will say better things about you if Read more about Confessions of an analyst relations consultant[…]

IT solution providers can amplify their market impact by understanding that analysts’ impact differs greatly between countries. Services companies and solution providers often look at analysts through the lens of thought leadership: both market intelligence teams, which consume analyst insight, and analyst relations teams, which aim to inform it. However, because most analyst firms write Read more about TechMarketView & Ovum show national impact of analysts[…]

Marketing is one of the most important areas of expertise where analysts are creating value for their users. According to the participants in the Analyst Value Survey, the ten firms creating the most value through insight into marketing are the ones listed below. Gartner is the most valuable provider of analyst insight into marketing. Todd Read more about Ovum & 451 advance in Marketing Analyst Firm Awards 2017[…]

The largest analyst contract commitments by enterprises, vendors and PR agencies often go to the Big Two advisory analyst firms: Forrester Research and Gartner. Unfortunately even during this recession, the two firms are not displaying any flexibility in contract negotiations – even though vendor clients are experiencing budget cuts.

To help analyst contract managers (e.g., AR, market research and procurement managers) take a strategic approach to dealing with the need to manage spending with Forrester and Gartner, SageCircle has a public webinar focused on providing the tools and intelligence needed to make the best decisions and deal with the firms’ sales representatives.

In this SageCircle Webinar we provide insights and actionable advice on how to manage what you spend with Forrester and Gartner to ensure that you have the access you need without spending more than necessary. Key Issues to be addressed in this webinar include:

Is it possible to negotiate discounts with Forrester and Gartner?

What are the best practices for identifying expenditures that can be safely cut?

What are the repercussions with analysts at the Big Two if contracts are cut or even eliminated?

What are the best practices for handling angry and even threatening analyst firm sales representatives?

In this SageCircle Webinar, our strategists will provide a succinct analysis of why the Big Two are not being flexible and how vendors need to respond. Participants will come out of the webinar with best practices and tools that will help them manage their expenditures without adversely impacting their ability to Continue reading →

A common client inquiry we receive is in the context of someone negotiating with Gartner. Our clients want to know why in the midst of a terrible economic downturn, when vendors are cutting budgets left and right, that Gartner does not exhibit greater flexibility (i.e., cut prices) when it comes to contract negotiations. The short answer is that due to its end-user advisory market dominance – we estimate that Gartner has ~70% of the end user contracts – it does not have to be flexible.

However, this issue is a little more complex than slapping a “monopolist” tag on folks over on Top Gallant Road. The reality is that there is an effective duopoly with tacit partner Forrester which gives them both the flexibility to be inflexible with it comes to negotiations. The last time this market saw pricing and packaging that in anyway favored the buyer was the mid-90’s when Giga and later META used significantly lower prices and “all you can eat” research seats to take market share from Gartner and Forrester. Alas, today there are no such firms that can play that role to counter Gartner and Forrester. As a consequence, the Big Two’s CEOs habitually inform Wall Street that they are maintaining their pricing and discounting discipline.

However, it is possible to reduce spending – notice we did not say “save money” – with the Forrester / Gartner duopoly without damaging the ability to access analysts for influencing purposes. However, it is not as simple as trying to wrangle a better discount from the sales rep. Rather it takes: